8Th Grade Physical Science Course Outline

E. J. TOLL MIDDLE SCHOOL 2015/2016

8th Grade Physical Science Course Outline

Mr. V. Underwood, Golden Eagle Core

Email: Toll’s School Web page: www.tollmiddleschool.org

Introduction

Dear Parents and Students,

This year is a year of transition, as many of you might have heard about we are beginning to implement the Common Core State Standards and are also overhauling the exiting California State Science Standards and replacing them with the new Next Generation Science Standards. This will be a multiyear endeavor and is believed to be in the best interest of your child’s education and their future.

Currently the required 8th grade Science curriculum for the year consists of three main topics: Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy. The fall semester will deal mainly with the Chemistry portion of the course. We will be using the Prentice Hall Focus on Physical Science textbook. In addition to the textbook, I plan to use various primary information sources such as magazine articles, scientific reports and other forms of multimedia, such as videos, computer programs and Internet resources as supplemental sources.

My classroom philosophy is that all students are capable of succeeding in Science. I assign a lot of work and expect your child to be challenged by these assignments. The key to succeeding in my class is to do your work and study every day. I recommend that each student should study Science at least 20-30 minutes every day. I assign class work everyday and homework 3-4 times a week. Quizzes and/or tests are taken at the end of each chapter or section. In addition, there will be at least 1 project and a cumulative final exam per semester.

Class Rules:

1.  Be on time.

2.  Be prepared to learn.

3.  Be respectful.

4.  Be quiet and attentive.

5.  No unapproved electronic devices.

6.  Do not eat, drink or chew any substance in class.

7.  Do not groom yourself in class.

8.  Be safe in class, No pushing, shoving, hitting or running in class.

9.  Obey all school behavior and dress codes.

Recommend Materials:

1.  A 120 – 170 sheet notebook or loose leaf notebook paper and a binder. A multi-subject binder is acceptable

2.  Pencils, either wooden or mechanical with extra lead and erasers

3.  Pens, dark ink

Optional Supplies:

1.  Colored Pencils, pens or markers

2.  Pencil sharpener

3.  Highlighter(s)

4.  White board marker, white board eraser or an old sock

5.  Ruler (metric)

6.  Stapler

7.  Hole Punch

8.  Scissors

9.  Glue or tape

10.  Calculator

11.  Facial Tissue

Course Assessments:

1.  Homework – 10%

2.  Classwork – 10%

3.  Quizzes / Tests – 25%

4.  Final Exam – 25%

5.  Project(s) – 25%

6.  Participation – 5%

7.  Extra Credit – no more than 10% of your total grade

8.  Late / missing work – will be accepted at 50% of the original grade unless your work is late because of a verified absence.

Grading Scale:

A+ ------120--101%

A ------100---90%

B ------89---80%

C ------79---68%

D ------67—50%

Fail ------49----0%

Student Name ______

Parent Signature ______